Fallen troops remembered on Aug 3

Photo & story Eve Jeffery

August 3 marks 60 years since the arrival of the Australian Army Training team in South Vietnam, and 50 years since the withdrawal of combat troops.

Five hundred and twentythree Australian soldiers were killed in action in Vietnam.

The federal Labor government will mark the occasion with a televised service on August 18, from the Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial in Canberra – but many Vietnam vets feel there needs to be more. On the day, across the country, vets and family members will stand beside the graves of the fallen. In Mullumbimby the community is invited to join RSL members at the Mullum cemetery on August 3 at 11am.

Paul Bibby

Eighteen months after the Mullum ambulance station was damaged in the floods, the vital local service remains closed, awaiting repairs.

The station provides an important base for ambulance services in the northern half of the Shire, allowing paramedics to reach people quickly in an emergency.

But it has been fenced off for more than a year, meaning that local paramedics must either be based at other stations around the Northern Rivers, or at the Mullumbimby Fire Station.

Twelve months ago, a spokesperson for the NSW Ambulance told The Echo that it had ‘engaged a central government agency to project manage the repairs to Mullumbimby [ambulance] station.’

Yet, it appears that, other than installing a new roof, no other work has been done, raising the question of whether the state government intends to reopen the station at any point in the future.

A sign on the fencing surrounding the site states that the Cudgen-based company Hucks Building is responsible

LOVING

MyVet Byron Bay

6685 6899 www.myvetbyronbay.com.au for the repair works.

When contacted by The Echo, Richard Hucks said work would be ‘commencing soon.’

‘We’re just waiting on some consultants,’ Mr Hucks said. ‘It should be completed in 16 weeks… if everything goes according to plan.’

The Echo contacted Ambulance NSW for comment, and is awaiting a response.